Closet hiding place

ABSTRACT

Channel  22  is inserted into channel  21  and placed inside a closet above the door. The channels are extended until they touch both side walls of the closet. Screws go through slots in both channels and are screwed into the wall. This installs the Closet Hiding Place. Valuables, dangerous items, or private items can then be lowered into the channels. Items can be removed by reaching into the channel and lifting the items out. The Closet Hiding Place is in a high, poorly lit, and poorly observable place. This innovative place of installation helps guard the items.

FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH

[0001] Not applicable

SEQUENCE LISTING OR PROGRAM

[0002] Not applicable

BACKGROUND

[0003] 1. Field of Invention

[0004] This invention relates to cabinet structures, household devices with secret compartments, and safes.

[0005] 2. Description of Prior Art

[0006] Many inventions for the home have secret compartments. Furniture with secret compartments is expensive, complicated, and limited to small items.

[0007] U.S. Pat. No. 3,717,112 to Welty (1973) discloses a compartment within a door hinge that is expensive and complicated. It requires lengthy installation, is limited to small items and cannot be easily uninstalled and taken to another home.

[0008] U.S. Pat. No. 4,821,652 to Hoffman (1989) discloses a device masquerading as cold air return which is limited to small items. It requires elaborate construction into a house wall and cannot be easily uninstalled and taken to another home.

[0009] U.S. Pat. No. 5,586,934 to Dombrowski (1996) discloses a cold air return with a secret compartment. It is limited to hiding small items. The flow of air can introduce dirt and moisture to the valuables. Elaborate construction may be required to match the new air return to the existing vents. It cannot not be easily uninstalled and taken to another home.

[0010] U.S. Pat. No. 6,135,034 to Clark (2000) discloses a trashcan safe that is expensive, complicated, and limited to small items. Moisture and dirt may damage valuables and papers.

[0011] U.S. Pat. No. 5,066,079 to Lawrence (1991) discloses a compartment within a door. It requires elaborate construction, holds little, and requires refinishing the door to hide the secret additions. It also cannot be easily uninstalled and taken to another home.

[0012] U.S. Pat. No. 4,083,314 to Garvin (1978) discloses a wall depository that imitates an electrical outlet holds little. It cannot not be easily uninstalled and taken to another home.

[0013] Can safes hold little, and have been discarded when the can appears old.

[0014] U.S. Pat. No. 2,086,018 to Dyer (1937) discloses a refrigerator with a depository is expensive and may damage valuables with moisture.

[0015] Gun safes are expensive, large, ugly and very heavy. They are slow to open. They are rarely close to a sleeping homeowner.

[0016] Gun cabinets are large and expensive pieces of furniture. They seldom fit into a bedroom. They are less secure than a safe and are not quickly opened.

[0017] Objects and Advantages

[0018] The Closet Hiding Place hides valuables, personal items and dangerous items. It is inexpensive. It is simple in construction. It is trivial to install. It is very quick to load and unload. It may be easily installed and easily uninstalled in a rental property.

[0019] The Closet Hiding Place has more volume than most secret compartment devices. It is long enough to hold one or more rifles. There are no locks to slow the acquisition of any contents, including a firearm. A closet is a clean dry place. Many secret compartment devices in external house walls allow moisture condensation onto valuables.

[0020] The Closet Hiding Place is usually installed in a closet above the door. This poorly illuminated area is unobtrusive and inconspicuous. Many closets have little space to stand and see the area above the doorway. The Closet Hiding Place is installed in an area where nothing is traditionally placed. A burglar would need to carry a flashlight to discover the Closet Hiding Place.

[0021] Installing one in many closets would increase the time a burglar searches. He would need to carry something to stand on from room to room. This would decrease the amount of loot he could carry. A Closet Hiding Place in a child's room or a laundry room would be unexpected. Water heater rooms, utility rooms, kitchen cupboards or linen closets would be unexpected. The Closet Hiding Place is usually attached to a wall by screws and can also be attached by Velcro or hooks. The Closet Hiding Place and its contents can then be removed in an instant.

SUMMARY

[0022] The Closet Hiding Place can assume the appearance of many ordinary building materials. It may look like a cylindrical or rectangular air duct. It may imitate a water pipe or whatever building instrumentality comes into vogue. It is installed inside a closet above the closet's door. The Closet Hiding Place will extend to fit the width of a closet. Adding additional nesting channels will accommodate the width of any closet. One channel may be cut to fit the width of a narrow closet. The Closet Hiding Place will conceal valuable, dangerous and private items.

DRAWINGS

[0023] Drawing Figures

[0024]FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of the Closet Hiding Place.

[0025]FIG. 2 shows an end view of the Closet Hiding Place.

[0026]FIG. 3 shows an end view of the Closet Hiding Place. This embodiment has the appearance of a cylindrical air duct or a water pipe.

[0027]FIG. 4 shows a perspective view of the end of a channel.

REFERENCE NUMERALS IN DRAWINGS

[0028]21 a channel shown in FIG. 1, FIG. 2, and FIG. 4

[0029]22 a slightly smaller channel than channel 21 shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2

[0030]31 a channel shown in FIG. 3

[0031]32 a slightly smaller channel than channel 31 shown in FIG. 3

DETAILED DESCRIPTIONS

[0032] Descriptions—FIGS. 1 and 2—Preferred Embodiment:

[0033]FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of view of a rectangular embodiment of the Closet Hiding Place. FIG. 2 shows a side view of the rectangular embodiment of the Closet Hiding Place. The Closet Hiding Place is in the form of a channel or gutter. It is attached inside a closet and over the closet's door. The Closet Hiding Place consists of two channels 21 and 22. Channel 22 is slightly smaller than channel 21. The pair can be easily nested and extended across the width of a closet. Screws are inserted through the slots in channel 21 and 22 and into the closet wall. This will attach the Closet Hiding Place above the closet door. When viewed, the Closet Hiding Place will appear to be a rectangular air duct. The Closet Hiding Place will rarely be noticed. People seldom look backward to see what is above a closet's door. Usually there is little light illuminating the area above the door of a closet. If the Closet Hiding Place is noticed it will be recognized as an ordinary rectangular air duct. The Closet Hiding Place may be made from bent sheet metal or plastic channels. The visible face mimics the side of a rectangular air duct.

[0034] The Closet Hiding Place can be made any length by nesting an unlimited number of channels. Duct tape over the intersections of the channels can be added for realism. The Closet Hiding Place may be installed during new construction, taped and painted as wallboard. It will then appear to be an ordinary wallboard structure. A single channel may be may be cut to fit a narrow closet.

[0035]FIG. 3 Additional Embodiments

[0036] Channels 31 and 32 as seen in FIG. 3 mimic the side of a cylindrical air duct. Channels may be colored to mimic a water pipe. Other embodiments can mimic additional building artifices.

[0037]FIG. 4 Bottom View

[0038] The ends of all channels conform to the curve between adjacent closet walls. The wall side of channels is shortened. Channel bottom fillets match the fillets between adjacent closet walls.

[0039] Advantages:

[0040] From the description above, many advantages of the Closet Hiding Place become evident:

[0041] (a) It is hidden in one of the least discoverable areas of a house.

[0042] (b) It looks like an uninteresting air duct.

[0043] (c) It holds items out of reach of small children.

[0044] (d) It can be installed in any room with a closet.

[0045] (e) It can be installed by anyone who can hang a picture.

[0046] (f) It can be installed in the time it takes to hang a few pictures.

[0047] (g) It holds a large volume of valuables.

[0048] (h) It will hold long items like shotguns or rifles.

[0049] (i) It is inexpensive enough to be installed in many closets.

[0050] (j) It can be uninstalled in a few minutes and taken to another home.

[0051] (k) Items can be loaded and unloaded quickly without the delay of locks.

[0052] Operation—FIGS. 1, 2, 3

[0053] Dangerous, valuable, and private articles are lowered into the open top of the Closet Hiding Place. Articles are removed by lifting them out from the top of the Closet Hiding Place. Long items like a rifle can be placed and quickly retrieved from the Closet Hiding Place.

CONCLUSIONS, RAMIFICATIONS, AND SCOPE

[0054] The Closet Hiding Place is easy for a homeowner to install with a screwdriver. It does not take up any otherwise necessary room. It is installed in an area unused by anything else. This area is unused because it is poorly illuminated and difficult to reach. The Closet Hiding Place is unreachable by young children. It is an ideal hiding place. A bedroom Closet Hiding Place can hold firearms that can be quickly retrieved.

[0055] The Closet Hiding Place may be installed in unlikely innovative areas. These include a child's closet, laundry rooms, water heater rooms and utility rooms. Kitchen cupboards or linen closets are also unexpected areas. The Closet Hiding Place is so inexpensive that many can be installed throughout a house. 

I claim:
 1. A hiding place for concealing objects within a closet, comprising a plurality of elongated roughly U shaped contiguous members of two slightly differing sizes so that the members may be nested together, (a) the Closet Hiding Place is installed inside a closet above the closet door, (b) the Closet Hiding Place is extended by sliding the nested elongated members until they extend across the width of the closet, an improvement with the Closet Hiding Place, whereby objects as long as the width of the closet may be concealed within the Closet Hiding Place, (c) further including a set of many long slots cut high into the wall side of the elongated members allow screws or other fasteners to attach the members to the inside closet wall above the door, (d) further the long slots of the nested elongated members will intersect allowing screws or other fasteners to go through both channels and attach them to the inside closet wall above the door, (e) further the wall sides of the elongated members are shortened and a fillet on the bottom part of the elongated members fits into the small curve between the closet walls, (f) the said elongated members have their visible side contoured to appears to be the side of a round air duct, a water pipe, a rectangular air duct, or any other form of ordinary building instrumentality, 